Yet another Legal Helpers Debt Resolutions business development manager has come forward. How many business development managers does the company have. This one is associated with a different URL so is each URL a different business unit? Confusing to say the least.

The business development manager for Legal Helpers in this email is listed as mdrehwing@lhdrhelp.com. The one the other day was jordan@legalhelpers-dr.com.

And before someone at Legal Helpers Debt Resolution corrects me again for just using Legal helpers, your own people do!

The mystery surrounding the multiple domains deepens.

lhdrhelp.com is hosted on a server that is reported to be in California – Culver City – Media Temple Inc. It also hosts the following domain names. I’ve also listed the last publicly registered administrative contact of the domains on that server.

legalhelpers-dr.com is hosted on a GoDaddy.com server in Arizona with thousands of other sites. They appear to be two distinctly different sites. Hosted by different underlying affiliates maybe? How is the public to know?

The Email Pitch

Here is the latest marketing pitch email.

Take a close look at the email and you’ll be surprised by the claims it makes.

Collect money in month 1. (This is instead of earning fees when a debt is actually settled.)

Fees equal 27% of total debt. That is enormously expensive and not disclosed as a percentage of debt.

The total estimated settlement amount and fees equal $36,099. This means the consumer will save $13,901 off their initial amount enrolled. This is a 27% reduction off the initial balance and not the 45% promoted. This flies in the face of the FTC telemarketing sales rules when it states:

Include the impact of your fees on the claimed savings. You may not inflate your savings claims by excluding the fees your customers paid you.

Example 9: Betty owes $10,000 on her credit card, and signs up with Company J’s debt relief service. Company J gets a settlement allowing Betty to pay $5,000 to resolve the debt. However, at the time of settlement, Company J charges Betty a $1,000 fee for its work. It would be deceptive for Company J to claim to have saved Betty $5,000 – or 50% of her debt – because Betty also had to pay $1,000 in fees. Instead, Company J may truthfully state Betty’s savings as $4,000 ($5,000 minus $1,000) or 40% of Betty’s debt. – Source

But then again I assume that since Legal Helpers is claiming they are exempt from the FTC regulations they might feel they don’t have to live up to the same rules and disclosures that other debt settlement companies do.

What is also not readily apparent is in the 45 month repayment program the balances and creditor fees will increase substantially. It is possible that after paying $13,599 in debt settlement fees, the savings plus increase in balances plus the cost of the program could come out much higher.

Let’s Take a Peak at Probable Reality

The reality is that in a 45 month program the consumer has a slim chance in actually getting out of debt without getting sued. Angelo Anzalone of Active Debt Solutions said, “This raises a bigger question also, anyone in this industry knows that a 45 month program will almost always result in the client receiving a lawsuit and is extremely harmful to the consumer.”

Even if they did manage to settle all their debt without getting sued, including the increase in balance over the length of the program, the actual cost would work out like this:

Including the approximate 20% increase in balances, according to Alex Viecco of New Era Debt Solutions and other debt settlement experts predict will happen, the final amount paid to settle debt at 45% would wind up being $27,000. So this means the total amount most likely to be paid, including all fees, would be $40,599.50. This would only be a savings of 19% off the initial balance of $50,000.

A debtor who enrolls into a Debt Settlement Program who is only 1-2 months behind on their bills will on average see their total overall debt increase 20%. Sometimes more. – Chris Schnorak, Debt Solutions Network

Is the risk of being sued and the chance of not settling all the debt, worth it?

Videos

The email appears to want to discount a poor BBB rating by referring readers to the BBB video below and calling it “hilarious.” It seems like a simple misdirection to me.

What on earth was Legal Helpers Debt Resolution Chicago Headquarters thinking when they hired Steve Vanderhoof of The Credit Exchange? Any reputable organization is not going to want to be in the same building as he is !!!!

Mandy Wienstein

What on earth was Legal Helpers Debt Resolution Chicago Headquarters thinking when they hired Steve Vanderhoof of The Credit Exchange? Any reputable organization is not going to want to be in the same building as he is !!!!

Steve Rhode

Legal Helpers Debt Resolution has just been sued by the Attorney General of Illinois. You can read the suit here.

http://GetOutOfDebt.org Steve Rhode

Legal Helpers Debt Resolution has just been sued by the Attorney General of Illinois. You can read the suit here.

Steve Rhode

So who then is the underlying nonprofit credit counseling provider?

ANTSAL

ALLEGED GIVE ME A BREAK STEVE YOU HAVE NO CLUE ALL THESE ARTICLES ARE BASED OFF OF WHAT SOMEONE SAID AND NOT FACTS. DONT POST UNLESS YOU KNOW HOW IT WORKS BUT PEOPLE TAKE IT AND RUN WITH IT

Jim2330

These guys are all scammers. Blumkin is an ex con and his partner Steven Drescher is as well. Their entities are also owned/controlled by David Feingold, a Florida attorney.

Drescher’s stepson Ryan Sasson is the straw man for them usually. What a surprise these criminals are working with Vanderhoof. Word on the street is that Vanderhoof is about to have some major three letter agency trouble. If anyone can find him!

Jim2330

These guys are all scammers. Blumkin is an ex con and his partner Steven Drescher is as well. Their entities are also owned/controlled by David Feingold, a Florida attorney.

Drescher’s stepson Ryan Sasson is the straw man for them usually. What a surprise these criminals are working with Vanderhoof. Word on the street is that Vanderhoof is about to have some major three letter agency trouble. If anyone can find him!

Joe_debt_jr

i wonder if vanderhoof is going to make his management staff at LDHR write a redbox report.

sam

Vanderhoof is working for them now in Chicago and probably has a hand in that one. God help them if this is true.

a1a

CBDC = CONSUMER AND BUSINESS DEBT COUNSELING SERVICES INCORPORATED (a not for profit incorporated in MA)

Issac Bobbe is listed as the President and Registered Agent for CBDC. Issac Bobbe was formerly the director of the now defunct ELIMIDEBT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC., which got into hot waters with the WV AG.

If you look up Issac Bobbe on the Florida’s corporate name search, you’ll find many companies that he is associated with (e.g. CIA HOLDINGS, INC., BRED WINNERS, LLC, etc.)

Interesting to say the least…

Gun

I wonder if the consumer is signing an agreement with the law firm and not directly with the non-profit. I would also be interested to find out what CBDC is paying for any referrals to LHDR and if they offer a split for any of those monthly fees.

Steve Rhode

They don’t do credit counseling. It is alleged they route all their credit counseling through CBDC in Florida. CBDC is a nonprofit credit counseling group.

Gun

Can we just laugh for a second, Daniel’s last name is BLUMKIN….freakin hilarious….ha ha.

How can a Law Firm be a credit counseling company? What do they do differently that another credit counseling company can’t do. I would like to find out the excessive fees that they will be charging for this option just because they are slapping a Law Firm name on the agreement.

Gun

Can we just laugh for a second, Daniel’s last name is BLUMKIN….freakin hilarious….ha ha.

How can a Law Firm be a credit counseling company? What do they do differently that another credit counseling company can’t do. I would like to find out the excessive fees that they will be charging for this option just because they are slapping a Law Firm name on the agreement.

http://GetOutOfDebt.org Steve Rhode

They don’t do credit counseling. It is alleged they route all their credit counseling through CBDC in Florida. CBDC is a nonprofit credit counseling group.

Gun

I wonder if the consumer is signing an agreement with the law firm and not directly with the non-profit. I would also be interested to find out what CBDC is paying for any referrals to LHDR and if they offer a split for any of those monthly fees.

a1a

CBDC = CONSUMER AND BUSINESS DEBT COUNSELING SERVICES INCORPORATED (a not for profit incorporated in MA)

Issac Bobbe is listed as the President and Registered Agent for CBDC. Issac Bobbe was formerly the director of the now defunct ELIMIDEBT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC., which got into hot waters with the WV AG.

If you look up Issac Bobbe on the Florida’s corporate name search, you’ll find many companies that he is associated with (e.g. CIA HOLDINGS, INC., BRED WINNERS, LLC, etc.)

Interesting to say the least…

sam

Vanderhoof is working for them now in Chicago and probably has a hand in that one. God help them if this is true.

Anonymous

i wonder if vanderhoof is going to make his management staff at LDHR write a redbox report.

ANTSAL

ALLEGED GIVE ME A BREAK STEVE YOU HAVE NO CLUE ALL THESE ARTICLES ARE BASED OFF OF WHAT SOMEONE SAID AND NOT FACTS. DONT POST UNLESS YOU KNOW HOW IT WORKS BUT PEOPLE TAKE IT AND RUN WITH IT

http://GetOutOfDebt.org Steve Rhode

So who then is the underlying nonprofit credit counseling provider?

sam

Because they are greedy bastards who don’t give a damn.

Well

How do they get to charge a “Legal Service Fee” and a “Debt Settlement Fee”???? If you are hiring a “lawyer” to settle your debt, why are these separate?

http://fmdconsumer.com/post/2010/10/27/Homeland-Financial-Services-and-Prosper-Financial-Solutions-Debt-Reduction-Scam-Victim-Redress-Checks.aspx Well

How do they get to charge a “Legal Service Fee” and a “Debt Settlement Fee”???? If you are hiring a “lawyer” to settle your debt, why are these separate?

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